The Chopin Society UK

Programme

One of Britain’s most respected pianists, Danny Driver is recognised internationally for his sophistication, insight and musical depth. His studies at Cambridge University and the Royal College of Music inspired his holistic approach to performance and enabled him to cultivate a broad repertoire from JS Bach and Handel to the present day.

Solo engagements have included orchestras such as the Hallé, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, American Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestras, as well as two appearances at the BBC Proms. Recital highlights have included frequent visits to London’s Wigmore Hall, among them a three-concert series focused on György Ligeti in 2021-2022, and where a five-concert ‘Variations’ series is planned for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. Driver’s international work has included engagements in the USA, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Germany, Australia, China and Hong-Kong. 2024-25 season highlights include performances with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the European première of Lyell Cresswell’s Piano Concerto no.3 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and a debut recital in New York’s Carnegie Hall in March.

Equally at home in chamber music as in solo performance, Driver’s musical partnerships include artists such as Chloë Haslip, Jack Liebeck, and Bomsori (violin), Christian Immler (baritone), Oliver Coates and Natalia Klein (cello). Recent projects have included a complete traversal of Beethoven’s Sonata for Violin and Piano with Chloë Haslip at Turner Sims Concert Hall (recorded live for Rubicon Classics), and song recitals at the Salle Bourgie (Montreal), Deutschlandfunk RaderbergKonzerte (Köln), and Maison de la Radio (Paris). Driver also performs with esteemed string quartets including the JACK, Parker, Carducci and Brodsky Quartets. He is often heard on classical radio stations around the world, including BBC Radio 3.

Since 2008, Driver has released an extensive series of acclaimed recital and concerto recording on the Hyperion label, including repertoire by György Ligeti, Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach, G F Handel, and Amy Beach, and has been twice nominated for a Gramophone Award. Future releases are to include J S Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Ligeti’s Musica Ricercata, and a recital disc of Schumann and Fauré.

He will play

• Thomas Adès – Darknesse Visible
• George Frideric Handel – Suite no 5 in E major
• Ludwig van Beethoven – Sonata in C Op. 111
• Fryderyk Chopin – Nocturnes Op. 27 no 1 (C# minor) and no 2 (D flat major)
• György Ligeti – Etudes: Galamb Borong, Fém, Fanfares
• Gabriela Lena Frank - Nocturno Nazqueno
• Fryderyk Chopin - Ballade no 1 in G minor Op. 23

Our piano, a fine 2015 Hamburg Steinway Model B Grand, chosen for us by Ulrich Gerhartz, Steinway’s Head of Artist & Concert Services, is maintained by Steinways and tuned by them immediately before each performance.

After the concert we offer a delicious buffet tea of freshly-made sandwiches, savouries, homemade cakes and chocolate biscuits, with a choice of a glass of excellent wine, tea, coffee or juice. The artists usually attend the tea and you can meet them. Tea tickets are sold on the door. They are £10 (standard), £5 for students and schoolchildren. We can cater for up to 70.